Business archives: what to keep and for how long

Business archives: what to keep and for how long

It is a legal requirement in the UK that businesses keep and retain records relating to the business transactions and accounts and that they are able to present these to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) upon request. Even those who are self employed need to be scrupulous with their accounting records if they want to avoid disruptive investigations by HMRC later down the line.

With data protection hot in the minds of the UK’s businesses, it is critical that you know what you should be keeping as business archives and what can be discarded, as well as knowing how long you should keep things for and why.

5 Reasons to choose off site archive storage

5 Reasons to choose off site archive storage

Despite many business affairs now being conducted on computers, a good deal of businesses still generate a huge amount of paperwork which, depending on the industry, the Data Protection Act says they need to keep hold of for a certain amount of time. Of course, in a smaller company a couple of locked filing cabinets may do this job just fine, but if your business is starting to burst at the seams then cheap self storage can be an excellent option for archive storage, for a number of reasons:

Getting the most from your document storage – top 5 tips

Getting the most from your document storage – top 5 tips

Archiving paper documents is an integral part of the majority of businesses administration. Despite the move towards a paperless office, even the most environmentally friendly businesses will have certain things that they cannot afford not to have in hard copy. With office space at a premium and security a top concern, keeping archives off site in a self storage facility is a great move for business looking to take the stress out of data control.

However, the last thing you want to be doing is paying for storage space that you don’t really need, so here are a few tips to help you minimise your archives before you place them in self storage to make sure you get the most from this valuable facility.

Simple tips for document storage

Simple tips for document storage

If your office seems to be overflowing with paperwork, you might be thinking it’s about time for a spring clean session. Unfortunately for many businesses, this is not as simple as it may seem. Lots of paperwork has to be kept for a certain period of time, and in a busy office this can mean finding storage space for many boxes full of document archives.

In this situation, self-storage can be a great option for and overcrowded work space. Using self storage facilities as document archives is becoming increasingly popular as businesses strive to maximise their expensive office space by keeping records off site. Here are a few simple tips to creating a document archive in self storage that will really work for you.

4 reasons to use self storage for document archiving

4 reasons to use self storage for document archiving

You know self storage can give you extra space when you need it, but did you know it is an ideal document archive for businesses too? Here are 4 top reasons you should be considering document archiving in self storage units instead of keeping everything on site.

The Case for a Document Archiving Strategy

The Case for a Document Archiving Strategy

There are many ways to implement a document archiving strategy and making the right choice for a business is very dependent on the type of business, the type of documentation that is retained and why. Once you understand what your business objectives are with regard to documentation and have selected a short-list of possible solutions you will then need to convince senior management of the need for a document archiving system and get their buy-in so that they support the project.

Those involved in making the final decision to go ahead with a new process and system may come from different fields in the organisation so it is important that your persuasion techniques cover the aspects of the business that are important to each department or division so that the whole organisation is equally persuaded of the benefits of the new system and feel that the costs are justified.